Uxmal
Uxmal is an ancient Maya city of the classical period in present-day Mexico. It is considered one of the most important archaeological sites of Maya culture, along with Palenque, Chichén, and Calakmul in Mexico and Xunantunich in Belize, and Tikal in Guatemala. It is located in the Puuc region and is considered one of the Maya cities most representative of the dominant architectural style. It has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in recognition of its significance and it is located 62 km south of Mérida, capital of Yucatán state in Mexico. Its buildings are noted for their size and decoration and its buildings are typical of the Puuc style, with smooth low walls that open on ornate friezes based on representations of typical Maya huts. These are represented by columns and trapezoidal shapes, entwined snakes and, in many cases two-headed snakes are used for masks of the rain god, its big noses represent the rays of the storms. Feathered serpents with open fangs are shown leaving from the human beings.
Also seen in cities are the influences of the Nahua. These were integrated with the elements of the Puuc tradition. The present name seems to derive from Oxmal, meaning three times built and this seems to refer to the sites antiquity and the times it had to rebuild. The etymology is disputed, another possibility is Uchmal which means what is to come, by tradition, this was supposed to be an invisible city, built in one night by the magic of the dwarf king. While much work has been done at the popular tourist destination of Uxmal to consolidate and restore buildings, little in the way of serious archeological excavation, the citys dates of occupation are unknown and the estimated population is a rough guess. Most of the major construction took place while Uxmal was the capital of a Late Classic Maya state around 850-925 AD. After about 1000 AD, Toltec invaders took over, and most building ceased by 1100 AD, Maya chronicles say that Uxmal was founded about 500 A. D. by Hun Uitzil Chac Tutul Xiu.
For generations Uxmal was ruled over by the Xiu family and it was the most powerful site in western Yucatán, and for a while, in alliance with Chichen Itza, dominated all of the northern Maya area. Sometime after about 1200, no new major construction seems to have made at Uxmal, possibly related to the fall of Uxmals ally Chichen Itza. The Xiu moved their capital to Maní, and the population of Uxmal declined, Uxmal was dominant from 875 to 900 CE. The site appears to have been the capital of a state in the Puuc region from 850-950 CE
Makara (Hindu mythology)
Makara is a sea-creature in Hindu culture. It is generally depicted as half terrestrial animal in the frontal part, in Hindu astrology, Makara is equivalent to the sign of Capricorn, tenth of the twelve symbols of the Zodiac. Makara appears as the vahana of the river goddess Ganga and of the sea god Varuna, Makara is the insignia of the love god Kamadeva, who has no dedicated temples and is known as Makaradhvaja, one whose flag depicts a makara. Makara is a Sanskrit word which means sea dragon or water-monster, in Tibetan it is called the chu-srin, and denotes a hybrid creature. It is the origin of the word for crocodile in Hindi, मगर, which has in turn loaned into English as the name of the Mugger crocodile. Josef Friedrich Kohl of Würzburg University and several German scientists claimed that makara is based on dugong instead, the South Asian river dolphin may have contributed to the image of the makara. Another theory that exists is that the creature is indeed an Alligator gar and this gar has had the ability to reach up to 14 feet in length and in history has been given the reputation of being aggressive.
This fish has the head of an alligator and the body of a fish, during the Vedic times when Indra was the God of heaven, Varuna became the God of the seas and rode on makara, which was called the water monster vehicle. Makara has been depicted typically as half mammal and half fish, in many temples, the depiction is in the form of half fish or seal with head of an elephant. It is shown in an anthropomorphic with head and jaws of a crocodile, an elephant trunk with scales of fish and a peacock tail. Lakshmi sitting on a lotus is a depiction in which she pulls the tongue of the elephant shaped makara is meant to project Lakshmis image as the goddess of prosperity, wealth and it represents a necessary state of chaos before the emergence of a new state of order. Makara is the emblem of Kamadeva, the god of love, Kamadeva is known as Makara-Ketu which means having the makara for an emblem It is the tenth sign of the Zodiac, called rāśi in Sanskrit, which is equivalent to the zodiacal sign of Capricorn.
In Hindu iconography, Makara is represented as the vahana of Ganga, a row of makara may run along the wall of a Hindu temple, act as the hand rail of a staircase, or form an arch above a doorway. A more succinct explanation is provided, An ancient mythological symbol, traditionally, a makara is considered to be an aquatic mythical creature. Makara has been depicted typically as half mammal and half fish, some traditional accounts identify it with a crocodile, specifically Gharial because of its long extended snout. It is depicted with the forequarters of an elephant and the hindquarters as a fish tail, crocodile was a form which was used in the earlier days which was shown with human body. In many temples, the depiction is in the form of fish or seal with head of an elephant. It is shown with head and jaws resembling a crocodile, an elephant trunk with scales of fish, other accounts identify it with Gangetic Dolphin having striking resemblances with the latter, now found mainly in Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary
Step pyramid
A step pyramid or stepped pyramid is an architectural structure that uses flat platforms, or steps, receding from the ground up, to achieve a completed shape similar to a geometric pyramid. Step pyramids are structures which characterized several cultures throughout history, in locations throughout the world. These pyramids typically are large and made of layers of stone. The term refers to pyramids of similar design that emerged separately from one another, ziggurats were huge religious monuments built in the ancient Mesopotamian valley and western Iranian plateau, having the form of a terraced step pyramid of successively receding stories or levels. There are 32 ziggurats known at, and near, twenty-eight of them are in Iraq, and four of them are in Iran. Ziggurats were built by the Sumerians, Babylonians and Assyrians as monuments to local religions, the earliest ziggurats probably date from the latter part of the Early Dynastic Period of Sumer. Built in receding tiers upon a rectangular, oval, or square platform, sun-baked bricks made up the core of the ziggurat with facings of fired bricks on the outside.
The facings were often glazed in different colors and may have had astrological significance, kings sometimes had their names engraved on these glazed bricks. The number of tiers ranged from two to seven, with a shrine or temple at the summit, access to the shrine was provided by a series of ramps on one side of the ziggurat or by a spiral ramp from base to summit. It was called Hill of Heaven or Mountain of the gods, the earliest Egyptian pyramids were step pyramids. During the Third Dynasty of Egypt, the architect Imhotep designed Egypts first step pyramid as a tomb for the pharaoh and this structure, the Pyramid of Djoser, was composed of a series of six successively smaller mastabas, one on top of another. Later pharaohs, including Sekhemkhet and Khaba, built structures, known as the Buried Pyramid. In the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt, the Egyptians began to build true pyramids with smooth sides, the earliest of these pyramids, located at Meidum, began as a step pyramid built for Sneferu. Sneferu made other pyramids, the Bent Pyramid and Red Pyramid at Dahshur, with this innovation, the age of Egyptian stepped pyramids came to an end.
One of the structures of Igboland was the Nsude Pyramids, at the Nigerian town of Nsude. Ten pyramidal structures were built of clay/mud, the first base section was 60 ft. in circumference and 3 ft. in height. The next stack was 45 ft. in circumference, circular stacks continued, till it reached the top. The structures were temples for the god Ala/Uto, who was believed to reside at the top, a stick was placed at the top to represent the gods residence
Guatemalan Highlands
The Guatemalan Highlands is an upland region in southern Guatemala, lying between the Sierra Madre de Chiapas to the south and the Petén lowlands to the north. The highlands are made up of a series of high valleys enclosed by mountains, the local name for the region is Altos, meaning highlands, which includes the northern declivity of the Sierra Madre. The mean elevation is greatest in the west and least in the east, a few of the streams of the Pacific slope actually rise in the highlands, and force a way through the Sierra Madre at the bottom of deep ravines. One large river, the Chixoy or Salinas River, escapes northwards towards the Gulf of Mexico, reclus with the appearance of a stormy sea breaking into parallel billows. The parallel ranges extend east and west with a slight southerly curve towards their centres, between Honduras and Guatemala, the frontier is formed by the Sierra de Merendón. In addition to the streams which break through to the Pacific and it empties in the Gulf of Honduras, an arm of the Carbean.
Of similar importane is the Polochic River, whih is about 180 miles in length, the Grijalva and its tributaries the Cuilco and San Miguel rivers drain west into the Chiapas Depression, and from there into the Gulf of Mexico. Lake Atitlan is a land-locked basin encompassed with lofty mountains, about 9 miles south of Guatemala City lies Lake Amatitlan with the town Amatitlán. The highlands have a long history, with many Maya archaeological sites that include Zaculeu, Iximché, Mixco Viejo, San Mateo Ixtatán, Chitinamit. The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is Aw
Mesoamerican chronology
Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into several periods, the Paleo-Indian, the Archaic, the Preclassic or Formative, the Classic, and the Postclassic. However, this applies to other pre-Columbian Mesoamerican civilizations as well. 3500-2000 BCE During the Archaic Era agriculture was developed in the region, Late in this era, use of pottery and loom weaving became common, and class divisions began to appear. Many of the technologies of Mesoamerica in terms of stone-grinding, drilling. 1800 BCE–200 CE During the Preclassic Era, or Formative Period, large-scale ceremonial architecture, cities, the Olmec civilization developed and flourished at such sites as La Venta and San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán. 200–1000 CE The Classic Era was dominated by numerous independent city-states in the Maya region and featured the beginnings of political unity in central Mexico, regional differences between cultures grew more manifest. The city-state of Monte Albán dominated the Valley of Oaxaca until the late Classic, highly sophisticated arts such as stuccowork, sculptural reliefs, mural painting and lapidary developed and spread during the Classic era.
In the Maya region, numerous city states such as Tikal, Copán, Uxmal, Cobá, each of these polities was generally independent, although they often formed alliances and sometimes became vassal states of each other. The main conflict during this period was between Tikal and Calakmul, who fought a series of wars over the course of more than half a millennium, each of these states declined during the Terminal Classic and were eventually abandoned. This is sometimes seen as a period of increased chaos and warfare, the Postclassic is often viewed as a period of cultural decline. However, it was a time of technological advancement in architecture, metallurgy came into use for jewelry and some tools, with new alloys and techniques being developed in a few centuries. The Postclassic was a period of rapid movement and population growth — especially in Central Mexico post-1200 —, for instance, in Yucatán, dual rulership apparently replaced the more theocratic governments of Classic times, whilst oligarchic councils operated in much of Central Mexico.
Likewise, it appears that the wealthy pochteca and military orders became more powerful than was apparently the case in Classic times and this afforded some Mesoamericans a degree of social mobility. The Toltec for a time dominated central Mexico in the 11th–13th century, the northern Maya were for a time united under Mayapan, and Oaxaca was briefly united by Mixtec rulers in the 11th–12th centuries. The Aztec Empire arose in the early 15th century and appeared to be on a path to asserting dominance over the Valley of Mexico region not seen since Teotihuacan. Spain was the first European power to contact Mesoamerica and its conquistadores, by the 15th century, the Mayan revival in Yucatán and southern Guatemala and the flourishing of Aztec imperialism evidently enabled a renaissance of fine arts and science. Examples include the Pueblan-Mexica style in pottery, codex illumination, and goldwork, the flourishing of Nahua poetry, the Post-Classic continued until the conquest of the last independent native state of Mesoamerica, Tayasal, in 1697.
Mesoamerican civilization was a network of different cultures
Mesoamerican ballcourt
A Mesoamerican ballcourt is a large masonry structure of a type used in Mesoamerica for over 2,700 years to play the Mesoamerican ballgame, particularly the hip-ball version of the ballgame. More than 1,300 ballcourts have been identified, 60% in the last 20 years alone. Although there is a variation in size, in general all ballcourts are the same shape. Although the alleys in early ballcourts were open-ended, ballcourts had enclosed end-zones, ballcourts were used for functions other than, or in addition to, ballgames. Ceramics from western Mexico show ballcourts being used for other sporting endeavours, although ballcourts are found within most Mesoamerican sites, they are not equally distributed across time or geography. In contrast, Northern Chiapas and the northern Maya Lowlands have relatively few, and ballcourts are conspicuously absent at some sites, including Teotihuacan, Bonampak. At Cantona, for example, the number of ballcourts is likely due to the many. One of the smallest, at Tikal site, is only one-sixth the size of the Great Ballcourt at Chichen Itza, the following is a comparison of the size of the playing alleys for several well-known ballcourts.
The earliest ballcourts were doubtless temporary marked off areas of compacted soil much like those used to play the modern ulama game, paso de la Amada, along the Pacific coast boasts the oldest ballcourt yet identified, dated to approximately 1400 BC. This narrow ballcourt has an 80 m ×8 m flat playing alley defined by two flanking earthen mounds with benches running along their length. By the Early Classic, ballcourt designs began to feature a pair of mounds set some distance beyond the ends of the alley as if to keep errant balls from rolling too far away. By the Terminal Classic, the end zones of many ballcourts were enclosed, the evolution of the ballcourt is, of course, more complex than the foregoing suggests, and with over 1300 known ballcourts, there are exceptions to any generalization. Open ballcourts continued to be constructed into the Terminal Classic and at smaller sites, some ballcourts featured only one enclosed endzone while some ballcourts endzones are of different depths.
During the Formative period, some enclosed ballcourts were entirely rectangular, one such court, at La Lagunita in the Guatemala Highlands, features rounded side walls. Unlike the compacted earth of the alley, the side walls of the formal ballcourts were lined with stone blocks. These walls featured 3 or more horizontal and sloping surfaces, there the vertical surfaces were covered with elaborate reliefs showing scenes, particularly sacrificial scenes, related to the ballgame. Most prominent ballcourts were part of their town or citys central monumental precinct and as such they share the orientation of pyramids, other than this general trend, no consistent orientation of ballcourts throughout Mesoamerica has been found, although some patterns do emerge at the regional level. In the Cotzumalhuapa region, for example, open-ended ballcourts with a north-south orientation were earlier than east-west enclosed courts, stone rings, tenoned into the wall at mid-court, appeared in the Terminal Classic era
Yaxchilan
Yaxchilan is an ancient Maya city located on the bank of the Usumacinta River in what is now the state of Chiapas, Mexico. In the Late Classic Period Yaxchilan was one of the most powerful Maya states along the course of the Usumacinta, architectural styles in subordinate sites in the Usumacinta region demonstrate clear differences that mark a clear boundary between the two kingdoms. Yaxchilan was a center, important throughout the Classic era. It dominated such smaller sites as Bonampak, and had a rivalry with Piedras Negras and at least for a time with Tikal, it was a rival of Palenque. The site is known for its well-preserved sculptured stone lintels set above the doorways of the main structures. These lintels, together with the stelae erected before the major buildings, epigraphers think that the ancient name for the city was probably the same as that of its realm, Pa Chan. Pronounced, meaning Cleft Sky. pronounced, Teoberto Maler gave it its modern name, for some time, the Emblem Gylph was read as Siyaj Chan, or Sky Born.
Yaxchilan is located on the bank of the Usumacinta River. This loop defends the site on all sides except for a land approach from the south. The site is 40 kilometres upriver from the ruins of Piedras Negras, Yaxchilan is 21 kilometres from the ruins of Bonampak. The site lies in Ocosingo Municipality in the state of Chiapas, on the Mexican side of the border with Guatemala. It is 80 kilometres downriver from the Maya site Altar de Sacrificios, Yaxchilan has its origins in the Preclassic Period. Some retrospective inscriptions appear to have used to rewrite Yaxchilans dynastic history to suit king Bird Jaguar IV. Before the rule of king Itzamnaaj Balam II, who reigned from 681 to 742, the city-state grew to a regional capital and the dynasty lasted into the early 9th century. The known history of Yaxchilan starts with the enthronement of Yopaat Balam I and he was the founder of a long dynasty, and took the throne when Yaxchilan was still a minor site. Hieroglyphic inscriptions dating to the Late Classic describe a series of wars in the Early Classic between the city and its neighbours, the long running rivalry with Piedras Negras had already begun by the fifth century AD, with both cities struggling to dominate the Usumacinta trade route.
King Moon Skull was credited with gaining a victory over Piedras Negras in 460 and with capturing the enemy king, by the middle of the 5th century Yaxchilan had formal contacts with the great city of Tikal. Bird Jaguar II, the king of Yaxchilan, captured a vassal of the king of Piedras Negras around 478
Equinox
An equinox is the moment in which the plane of Earths equator passes through the center of the Sun, which occurs twice each year, around 20 March and 23 September. On an equinox and night are of equal duration all over the planet. They are not exactly equal, due to the size of the sun. To avoid this ambiguity, the word equilux is sometimes used to mean a day in which the durations of light, see Length of equinoctial day and night for further discussion. The word is derived from the Latin aequinoctium and nox, the equinoxes are the only times when the solar terminator is perpendicular to the equator. As a result, the northern and southern hemispheres are equally illuminated, the word comes from Latin equi or equal and nox meaning night. In other words, the equinoxes are the times when the subsolar point is on the equator. The subsolar point crosses the equator moving northward at the March equinox, the equinoxes, along with solstices, are directly related to the seasons of the year. In the southern hemisphere, the equinox occurs in September.
When Julius Caesar established the Julian calendar in 45 BC, he set 25 March as the date of the spring equinox. Because the Julian year is longer than the tropical year. By 1500 AD, it had drifted backwards to 11 March and this drift induced Pope Gregory XIII to create a modern Gregorian calendar. However, the leap year intervals in his calendar were not smooth and this causes the equinox to oscillate by about 53 hours around its mean position. This in turn raised the possibility that it could fall on 22 March, the astronomers chose the appropriate number of days to omit so that the equinox would swing from 19 to 21 March but never fall on the 22nd. Vernal equinox and Autumnal equinox, these names are direct derivatives of Latin. The equivalent common language English terms spring equinox and autumn equinox are even more ambiguous, March equinox and September equinox, names referring to the months of the year they occur, with no ambiguity as to which hemisphere is the context. They are still not universal, however, as not all use a solar-based calendar where the equinoxes occur every year in the same month.
Northward equinox and southward equinox, names referring to the apparent direction of motion of the Sun
Ancient Maya art
Ancient Maya art refers to the material arts of the Maya civilization, an eastern and south-eastern Mesoamerican culture that took shape in the course of the Preclassic Period. Its greatest artistic flowering occurred during the seven centuries of the Classic Period, Ancient Maya art went through an extended Post-Classic phase before the upheavals of the sixteenth century destroyed courtly culture and put an end to the Mayan artistic tradition. Many regional styles existed, not always coinciding with the boundaries of Maya polities. Olmecs and Toltecs have all influenced Maya art, traditional art forms have mainly survived in weaving and the design of peasant houses. Starting in the early 1970s, the historiography of the Mayan kingdoms - first of all Palenque - came to occupy the forefront, Scheles seminal interpretations of Maya art are found throughout her work, especially in The Blood of Kings, written together with art historian M. Miller. Maya art history was spurred by the enormous increase in sculptural and ceramic imagery, due to extensive archaeological excavations.
On from 1973, M. D. Coe published a series of books offering pictures and interpretations of unknown Maya vases, with the Popol Vuh Twin myth for an explanatory model. In 1981, Robicsek and Hales added an inventory and classification of Maya vases painted in codex style, as to subsequent developments, important issues in Scheles iconographic work have been elaborated by Karl Taube. New approaches to Maya art include studies of ancient Maya ceramic workshops, the representation of experience and the senses in Maya art. Meanwhile, the number of devoted to the monumental art of specific courts is growing. A good impression of recent Mexican and North American art historical scholarship can be gathered from the exhibition catalogue Courtly Art of the Ancient Maya, under successive reigns, the main buildings were enlarged by adding new layers of fill and stucco coating. Irrigation channels and drains made up the hydraulic infrastructure, outside the ceremonial center were the structures of lesser nobles, smaller temples, and individual shrines, surrounded by the wards of the commoners.
Dam-like causeways spread from the ceremonial centers to other nuclei of habitation, fitting in with the concept of a theatre state, more attention appears to have been given to aesthetics than to solidity of construction. Careful attention, was placed on directional orientation, among the various types of structures should be mentioned, Ceremonial platforms. Other residential buildings, such as a house and a possible council house in Copan. Temples and temple pyramids, the latter often containing burials in their base or fill, the outstanding example are the many clustered dynastic burial temples of Tikals North Acropolis. In the palaces and temple rooms, the vault was often applied. The northern Maya area shows characteristics of its own, the most important Puuc site is Uxmal
Chiapas
Chiapas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas, is one of the 31 states that, with the Federal District, make up the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into 122 municipalities and its capital city is Tuxtla Gutiérrez, other important population centers in Chiapas include Ocosingo, San Cristóbal de las Casas, Comitán and Arriaga. Chiapas has a coastline along the Pacific Ocean to the south, in general, Chiapas has a humid, tropical climate. In the north, in the area bordering Tabasco, near Teapa, in the past, natural vegetation at this region was lowland, tall perennial rainforest, but this vegetation has been destroyed almost completely to give way to agriculture and ranching. Rainfall decreases moving towards the Pacific Ocean, but it is abundant enough to allow the farming of bananas. Chiapas is home to the ancient Mayan ruins of Palenque, Yaxchilán, Bonampak and it is home to one of the largest indigenous populations in the country with twelve federally recognized ethnicities.
Much of the history is centered on the subjugation of these peoples with occasional rebellions. The last of these rebellions was the 1994 Zapatista uprising, which succeeded in obtaining new rights for indigenous people, the official name of the state is Chiapas. The name derives from Chiapan or Tepechiapan, the name of an indigenous population, the term, from Nahuatl, may mean sage seed hill or water below the hill. After the Spanish arrived, they established two cities called Chiapas de los Indios and Chiapas de los Españoles, with the name of Provincia de Chiapas for the area around the cities, the first coat of arms of the region dates from 1535 as that of the Ciudad Real. Chiapas painter Javier Vargas Ballinas designed the coat of arms. Hunter gatherers began to occupy the valley of the state around 7000 BCE. The oldest archaeological remains in the seat are located at the Santa Elena Ranch in Ocozocoautla whose finds include tools, in the pre Classic period from 1800 BCE to 300 CE, agricultural villages appeared all over the state although hunter gather groups would persist for long after the era.
There is speculation that these were the forefathers of the Olmec, migrating across the Grijalva Valley and onto the plain of the Gulf of Mexico to the north. One of these peoples ancient cities is now the site of Chiapa de Corzo. This is three hundred years before the Mayans developed their calendar, the descendants of Mokaya are the Mixe-Zoque. During the pre Classic era, it is known that most of Chiapas was not Olmec, olmec-influenced sculpture can be found in Chiapas and products from the state including amber and ilmenite were exported to Olmec lands. The Olmecs came to what is now the northwest of the looking for amber with one of the main evidences for this called the Simojovel Ax
Chichen Itza
Chichen Itza was a large pre-Columbian city built by the Maya people of the Terminal Classic period. The archaeological site is located in Tinúm Municipality, Yucatán State, Chichen Itza was a major focal point in the Northern Maya Lowlands from the Late Classic through the Terminal Classic and into the early portion of the Postclassic period. The site exhibits a multitude of styles, reminiscent of styles seen in central Mexico and of the Puuc. Chichen Itza was one of the largest Maya cities and it was likely to have one of the mythical great cities, or Tollans. The city may have had the most diverse population in the Maya world, the ruins of Chichen Itza are federal property, and the sites stewardship is maintained by Mexicos Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia. The land under the monuments had been privately owned until 29 March 2010, Chichen Itza is one of the most visited archaeological sites in Mexico, an estimated 1.4 million tourists visit the ruins every year. The Maya name Chichen Itza means At the mouth of the well of the Itza and this derives from chi, meaning mouth or edge, and chen or cheen, meaning well.
Itzá is the name of an group that gained political. One possible translation for Itza is enchanter of the water, from its, the name is spelled Chichén Itzá in Spanish, and the accents are sometimes maintained in other languages to show that both parts of the name are stressed on their final syllable. Other references prefer the Maya orthography, Chichen Itza and this form preserves the phonemic distinction between ch and ch, since the base word cheen begins with a postalveolar ejective affricate consonant. The word Itza has a high tone on the a followed by a glottal stop, evidence in the Chilam Balam books indicates another, earlier name for this city prior to the arrival of the Itza hegemony in northern Yucatán. While most sources agree the first word means seven, there is debate as to the correct translation of the rest. This earlier name is difficult to define because of the absence of a standard of orthography. This name, dating to the Late Classic Period, is recorded both in the book of Chilam Balam de Chumayel and in texts in the ruins.
Chichen Itza is located in the portion of Yucatán state in Mexico. The northern Yucatán Peninsula is arid, and the rivers in the interior all run underground, there are two large, natural sink holes, called cenotes, that could have provided plentiful water year round at Chichen, making it attractive for settlement. Of the two cenotes, the Cenote Sagrado or Sacred Cenote, is the most famous, according to post-Conquest sources, pre-Columbian Maya sacrificed objects and human beings into the cenote as a form of worship to the Maya rain god Chaac. Edward Herbert Thompson dredged the Cenote Sagrado from 1904 to 1910, a study of human remains taken from the Cenote Sagrado found that they had wounds consistent with human sacrifice
